BUSINESS PEOPLE: Local doctor to lead statewide podiatric association
Dr. Alissa Zdancewicz has been elected the 83rd president of the Florida Podiatric Medical Association.
Only the fourth woman in Florida and the first woman from the Sarasota-Bradenton region to hold the office, she oversees the policymaking board that serves Florida’s podiatrists, doctors who specialize in the treatment of the lower extremity.
Originally from Chicago, Dr Z, as she is called by her patients, practices in Bradenton and Sarasota. A partner in West Coast Podiatry Center, in Bradenton, she enjoys helping her patients stay healthy and active.
She previously served as president of the Manasota Podiatric Medical Association.
Teaching future doctors is also a passion of Dr. Z’s. She is on the faculty of Manatee Memorial Hospital’s Internal Medicine and Family Medicine Residency Programs.
Her duties will include working with various FPMA committees creating the vision and budget for the next year, traveling the state, representing over 1,000 podiatric physicians and surgeons, and promoting the benefits of scientific advancement in the treatment, prevention and alleviation of foot and ankle problems.
Mary Dougherty and Irene Fleshner, RN, have joined the board of trustees at HCA Florida Sarasota Doctors Hospital. Both are leaders in the community and in their professional roles.
They will advise hospital leadership on quality and operations. The board follows standards set by the Joint Commission, which accredits hospitals.
Dougherty is the executive director of the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange, which represents commercial contractors in Manatee, Sarasota and Charlotte counties.
Fleshner, RN, MHA, recently retired as principal with Reno, Davis and Associates, Inc., where she provided consulting services to health care organizations, suppliers and professional associations.
She spent 15 years as the senior vice president and chief clinical officer with Genesis Health Care.
Barbara Levison, of Proeger & Associates, Inc., has earned the “Fellow of the Leadership Academy” designation from the Aging Life Care Association.
This designation recognizes those Aging Life Care Professionals who have demonstrated themselves to be advanced practitioners and experts in the field of Aging Life Care/Geriatric Care Management.
Fellows maintain a strong commitment to the mission, leadership, programs and activities of ALCA. Levison currently serves as the advisor to the ALCA Florida Chapter board of directors.
Proeger & Associates, Inc. is an Aging Life Care management company in Sarasota.
JMX Brands, the leading retailer of Amish furniture at https://www.dutchcrafters.com, recently recognized Steve Doe with the Category Manager Award at the company’s annual awards ceremony for the second year in a row.
Product Management and Innovation Manager Seth Carter presented the award, which was created to recognize the hard work and impressive results of a specific product category manager whose contributions have served a vital role in the organization’s success.
Doe joined JMX Brands in 2018 as a furniture specialist and became a category manager with responsibility for the dining room category in 2019.
He is also chairperson for the sustainability committee at JMX Brands. He led the initiative to install solar panels at the company headquarters and DutchCrafters Showroom, in Sarasota.
Gulfside Bank has hired Gary Houseworth as vice president and financial center manager for a full-service bank to open in Sarasota in 2024.
The bank has agreed to terms on a lease for a building to be constructed in a new commercial development east of Interstate 75 on the south side of Fruitville Road, near Fruitville Commons.
Houseworth has spent the vast majority of his 30-plus-year career working for local community banks in Sarasota.
He is a graduate of Riverview High School and earned a Bachelor of Science in finance from Florida State University.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: "Dr. Z" to represent podiatrists statewide; new trustees at Doctors
